


An unexpected surprise

by Maeve_Lynn



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: After Skandia, Christmas, Father-Son Relationship, Fear, Gen, bad memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_Lynn/pseuds/Maeve_Lynn
Summary: Will has been sent to his own fief, but with Christmas he finds some time to go back to Redmont to surprise his former mentor.
Relationships: Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	An unexpected surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know it's February, but I wanted to post this work anyway. Hope you'll enjoy it!

It was a cold day. Snow laid on the ground, as well as on the branches of the leafless trees. The wind was howling, and nobody dared to go outside in this ungodly weather. No one, except one lonely rider. He tried to stay warm underneath his cloak, but since it was already wet from the snow that fell down a day earlier, it didn’t give a lot of warmth anymore. The rider shivered. Not only from the cold, but also because the surroundings reminded him of a dark time. Although it was six years ago, he couldn’t forget what had happen. _Are you alright?_ Without releasing it, the horse had stopped. He had felt the change of his rider’s mood. The young men bend closer to the horse’s neck and petted it. “Yes, I’m alright Tug. Thank you for asking.” Tug looked at him. _You know that I know when you’re lying, even if you think I wouldn’t know._ Will shook his head. Then he sighed and searched for a place to rest. After riding for a few more minutes, he had found a good place. He led Tug through the bushes and climbed out of his saddle. He rubbed his back and then stretched it. He gave his horse some water and some grain. Will himself ate some bread, dried meat and an apple. He didn’t have any coffee beans anymore and the closest village was Wensley. He had to ride for at least another five hours before he could finally rest. He drank the last bit of water in his mug and prepared Tug to ride.

Meanwhile Halt was in a bad mood. He hadn’t heard anything from his former apprentice and that made him worry. After Will got his own fief, he moved out off the cabin and he lived in the castle with his wife, Lady Pauline. Their rooms were nice and cosy, and it felt good to be together below one roof. Before they married, they already had made some agreements. One of them was that Halt would live in the cabin, as long as Will would be his apprentice. Pauline visited them as much as she could, but both knew that it was only for the best if Halt stayed with Will and that he trained the boy in the forest. It was a little surprise when Will decided to stay one year longer in Redmont to think about what he wanted and to learn some more things. He helped Halt with paperwork and from time to time he took some missions on his own. Redmont was one of the biggest fiefs and having two Rangers was a blessing. The old Ranger looked into the flames of the fire place. It was the first year that he didn’t celebrate Christmas with Will. He would never admit it, but he missed the boy a lot. His happiness, his kindness, his smile. Yes, that was one of the things he missed most. Will had such a lovely smile. Whenever and wherever Will came, he could make people smile too. A soft knock on the door made him stand up and he opened the door for who was standing in front of it. He already knew who it was. Abelard had greeted the visitor already and he had heard the response from a woman. “Are you going to stay here the whole day, or will you join me in the afternoon?” a beautiful, tall lady asked him. Halt smiled and stepped aside to let her enter the room. While Halt was preparing some tea, Lady Pauline took a seat next to the fire place. It wasn’t that far away from castle Redmont to the cabin, but it was so cold, that she barely could feel her fingers. “Here,” the Ranger said, giving the tea to his wife, “this will take the cold away.” And so they sat, until the moment that Pauline went back home. Before she gave her horse the signal to walk, she looked back and waved at her husband. Halt raised his hand as a sign of ‘See you later!’ and went back inside the warm cabin.

Will was broken. He had ridden for tree days and had a sore back. He was tired of paying attention to the road and desired to have a warm cup of coffee. He observed the sky and noticed the upcoming stars. It became darker with the minute and he wanted to be inside before he couldn’t see anything anymore. _Is that the real reason or is there something more going on?_ Will hadn’t paid attention to his horse and didn’t know what Tug meant. “Sorry, what did you say?” he asked his friend. _I’m not going to say things twice,_ Tug responded. “Too bad I won’t be able to hear your advice then. It also means it wasn’t _that_ important at all.” Tug stopped and watched how his rider was laughing, pleased to finally have the last word in a discussion. _Maybe you win this round, but in the end I’m the one who will be laughing!_ “Sure you will boy,” the young Ranger said. They were almost at the place of their destination. _Does Halt know we’re coming?_ Tug asked after a few minutes. Just as Will, he asked a lot of questions. “A bad habit he got from Will,” as Halt always said to the other Rangers. “No, I didn’t have the time to write him a letter and besides, surprise visits are the best!” _Could be, but you know that Halt isn’t that much into surprises, don’t you?_ Will shrugged his shoulders. “That’s his problem, not mine.” He wanted to continue but saw that they already rode on the well-known path. It had been a routine to walk and ride that road for years and even in the dark he could find his way to the cabin. Within a few meters they would at the turn and after that it was just a few steps to his former home. He wasn’t surprised at all when he saw that the lights were on. He knew from Alyss, who had visited him a few weeks earlier, that Halt went back to his cabin from time to time to be alone. It was always at the moments he missed Will. After a few hours he would be back at the castle, acting like nothing had happened. Will heard how Abelard greeted them and he led Tug to the stable. There, he petted the horse of his former master and said some nice words to him. Abelard neighed and seemed to explain the situation to Tug. “I leave you alone for now, but within some time I’ll be back.” He released his horse from the saddle and laid it on a hook. Then he went outside again and walked to the front of the house. He raised his fist to knock on the door, but at the last moment he stopped. Instead, he peeked trough the window and when he didn’t saw Halt, he unlocked the door and walked inside. At the same moment Halt came out of his room, in his hands some papers and didn’t noticed the young Ranger. “Merry Christmas Halt!” a cheerful voice said. The papers fell out of his hands as soon as he saw him. A bright smile on his face, eyes full of joy and instantly his heart became warm. “Gorlog’s beard! What on earth are you doing here Will?”

The older Ranger had just taken the last things and was ready to go back to his home, when Will entered the room. “Visiting you of course,” Will replied. His former mentor looked confused and couldn’t find the words he wanted to say. “But I thought…” and as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew what Will would answer. “A dangerous pastime, Halt. Very dangerous.” It felt good to say these words, especially after hearing them so many times. Will walked closer to Halt and embraced him. “It’s good to see you again, Halt. I missed you,” he said. Halt said nothing but hugged the young men in his arms tighter. Halt looked at Will and saw that the young boy he once took under his wings had grown into an excellent Ranger. Before going back to the castle, the men staid in their former house to exchange some news. Afterwards they went to the stable, climbed in the saddles and rode to the castle.

“Are you there finally? If you came later, I’d have had dinner at Jenny’s restaurant,” Pauline said as soon as she heard how the door opened and closed again. “It took some more time than I thought because there was some trouble,” her husband answered calmly. “What kind of trouble?” She entered the living room and checked how Halt was doing. Sometimes he preferred the old-fashioned way of action instead of talking things out. “You didn’t fight, did you?” She seemed calm, but Halt knew better. “No, of course not darling! How could you think that I would beat our Will up?” After hearing the name of the former apprentice, she scanned the room and found him in a dark corner. “Will Treaty! How wonderful to see you again!” He hugged her and she gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Hurry up, dinner is almost done!” “But I thought…” and for the second time that day Halt had to hear that awful answer. Before Will could answer, his friend already had a reply. “Don’t you dare young man,” the Ranger murmured. Will lifted his hands up as a sign of defeat. “I won’t say anything.” Halt sniffed. “Good, in that way I will have some peace and quiet on my old day.” With that, Halt thought it was over and he had won. Will liked to tease his friends, just like Halt likes to do that with his friends. Most of the time Crowley was the victim, but he could handle it. On his turn, however, he teased Halt even more. “I’m sorry, did you just say _on your old day_? Are you finally admitting you’re getting old Halt?” Halt turned his head slowly towards Will and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? What did you just say?” Will’s face was straight, but in his mind, he was laughing. “I see, already problems with hearing?” He turned to Pauline. “I think that’s the reason why Halt doesn’t do the things you ask him to do, Pauline. He’s getting too old and it always starts with hearing less!” “I may be getting old, but that doesn’t mean I can’t come to you and kick your butt!” Before things got out of hand, Pauline led them to the table. “Let’s just have a nice dinner time together as a family, shall we?” The men heard the warning tone in her voice and nodded in agreement.

\-----

Pauline and Halt were already sleeping when Will went to bed. He would stay with them for a couple of days and would meet Alyss the next day. Although he was tired, getting his sleep wasn’t possible. He went out of bed and made himself some coffee. At one point, he felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked around, he saw Halt. They both knew the reason why Will couldn’t sleep. Another cup of coffee was made and they simple sat in front of the fire place. After a while they fell asleep. Halt sitting on a pillow, his back against a chair and with Will in his arms. 


End file.
